Sigma Designs Upgrades the Front of Screen Experience

MILPITAS, CA--(Marketwire - January 4, 2011) - International CES -- Sigma Designs (NASDAQ: SIGM), a leading provider of System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions for delivering entertainment and control throughout the home, today announced that it has upgraded the customer's front of screen experience with its new SoCs: the SMP8910 and the SMP8670 Secure Media Processors™ (see related announcement regarding Sigma's SMP8910). The company also announced support for four exciting new TV development environments: Adobe® AIR® for TV, the Espial Browser with support for Adobe Flash® Player, a Hardware Accelerated Open GL ES 3D UI Framework, and XBMC (XBMC Media Center). These solutions will be showcased at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the company's private suite, located in the Las Vegas Hilton, room 2921.

"The TV has become a platform through which consumers desire to access a wider variety of entertainment and media, including videos, games, user-generated content, music, and social networking content," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. "New development environments such as Adobe AIR for TV, and XBMC will enable consumers to download applications, play games, watch HDTV and visit TV-optimized sites -- all from the comfort of their couch. A flexible and easy-to-use interface is a critical factor in how consumers will enjoy these new experiences, and Sigma Designs is smart to provide OEMs such a complete tool chest of rich user interface options."

At CES 2011, Sigma Designs will showcase four state-of-the-art environments:

Adobe AIR for TV running media-rich music and video applications

A preview of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for the latest Espial TV web browser

XBMC with its rich user interface and ability to download applications onto the platform

A rich 3D graphics framework for next generation hybrid platforms

"The XBMC team welcomes Sigma Designs, a leading provider in the embedded player market, to our list of working hardware platforms," said Cory Fields, XBMC Business Relations Manager. "Together we will give manufacturers a robust solution for development and innovation, which will in turn bring our highly acclaimed user experience to a new audience of media enthusiasts."

The SMP8910 is the first studio-grade SoC for advanced connected media players. It integrates the popular VXP post-processing technology used in most Hollywood post-production equipment into mainstream media processors. This new high-performance chip delivers an unparalleled full resolution 1080p 3DTV viewing experience, eliminates video artifacts caused by compression and transmission, and can handle more TV platform features concurrently. At the same time, it can decode more high definition videos than rival systems -- leading to a better viewing experience for consumers.

The SMP8670 is a new thin-client SoC optimized to run over-the-top application environments such as the XBMC, Adobe AIR for TV, Adobe Flash Player and other graphically-rich environments. The chip is 40% faster than previous Sigma thin-client solutions and dramatically improves the responsiveness of these new, advanced user interfaces.

"Sigma is making the TV platform real by offering practical tools for OEMs to quickly build attractive, yet affordable solutions around these new technologies," said David Lynch, vice president and general manager, Media Processor Group at Sigma Designs. "Combining these environments with our new SMP8910 and SMP8670 solutions will enable new front of screen experiences not yet seen in connected media players so far."

About Sigma Designs, Inc.
Sigma Designs is a leading fabless semiconductor provider of highly integrated system-on-chip (SoC) solutions that are used to deliver entertainment and control throughout the home. SoC solutions include media processing, wired and wireless networking, video image processing, and home control along with system software to form the critical components of consumer electronic products that include Internet protocol TV (IPTV) set top boxes, gateways, Blu-ray players, and media communication devices. Headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., Sigma Designs has direct sales representatives in the United States, Brazil, China, Europe (Denmark and France), Israel, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and distributors in Korea, Russia and India. For more information, please visit Sigma Designs' web site at www.sigmadesigns.com.

Sigma Designs, VXP, Secure Media Processor, Z-Wave and the Sigma Designs logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sigma Designs, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are believed to be trademarks of their respective owners.

Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements about the anticipated features and benefits of Sigma's products and solutions. Actual results may vary materially due to a number of factors including, but not limited to, general economic conditions, including continuance of the current economic conditions specific to the semiconductor industry, the rate of growth of the IPTV and hybrid cable/IP thin clients markets in general, the ramp in demand from Sigma's set-top box and telecommunication customers, Sigma's ability to deploy and achieve market acceptance for Sigma's products in these markets, the ability of its SoCs to compete with other technologies or products in these emerging markets as well as other risks that are detailed from time to time in Sigma's SEC reports, including our quarterly report on Form 10-Q as filed December 7, 2010. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Sigma undertakes no obligation to publicly release or otherwise disclose the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements that may be made as a result of events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.